GPayments appoints new CEO

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Australian online payment technology vendor GPayments has appointed a new CEO from the ranks of financial consultancy group KPMG.

Despite having only recently been appointed to the position, Steven Shipley is already well versed in the company's directions, having worked closely with the payment gateway vendor in his most recent incarnation.

Shipley brings a wealth of experience in IT financial management consultancy after spending two decades working throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

"I lived and worked in Japan, Bangkok, New Zealand and Melbourne, so I am fairly familiar with the region," Shipley told ARN.

After two decades on the move, Shipley believes GPayments has the potential to keep him in the one place. In fact, his faith in the company is such that he has taken a substantial pay cut in order to take up the new position.

"GPayments' strength lies in its broad spread of products. While I can see strong competitors in every niche, we offer payment gateway services that fully integrate to offer e-commerce solutions," he said.

Shipley is adamant that GPayments' key competitors are focused on specific elements of the overall payment gateway, and believes that competition between such vendors will prevent the formation of solid partnerships in this area.

"They would have to work together and integrate their offerings in order to be a realistic threat, however that is not likely to happen at this stage," Shipley said.

While GPayment has gained from a strong Iranian-based technical development team, Shipley believes that the company will benefit from a more proactive sales and marketing approach, and investor lead growth.

"The development infrastructure and vision is already there," Shipley told ARN. "At this stage the company lacks the infrastructure to support extensive international rollouts, however it has the potential to expand significantly over the net few years."

His international experience has left Shipley well placed to observe business culture across the Pacific. While he believes that the frenetic pace of Silicon Valley is unmatched outside the US, he also believes the more considered Australian approach has its merits.

Good listeners

"Unlike US IT developers, who tend to address their market with a certain technical arrogance, Australian companies are good at listening to the requirements of their customers. US companies will create the product, then create the market and attempt to mandate the standard, whereas here there is a much stronger focus on what the customer wants," Shipley said.

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